Lost Youth in Egypt?

Two priests with strong ties to Egypt said they feared young Egyptian Catholics will turn away from the church because it did not back protests that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. The Rev. Makarios Isaac, an Egyptian-born priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto and an associate of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, said the main Muslim and Orthodox leaders forbade participation in the protests and the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, Cardinal Antonios Naguib, told protesters to go home. He feared Egyptian young people will now “turn their backs on the church” and say, “You never stood with us...you never taught us to stand up for our rights.” The Rev. Douglas May of Maryknoll, who worked in Egypt for 18 years of Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule, said Christian leaders in Egypt played it safe. “I’m afraid that the church leadership has lost its credibility with the Christian youth over this,” he said.